Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the detail.
A World’s Fair, a flying saucer on an hourglass and a renovation for a new century offer several ways into the story of the Space Needle.
On this page
A tower for the Age of Space
The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair, whose theme was the Age of Space. Edward E. Carlson sketched the first idea, John Graham Jr. proposed the flying-saucer top and Victor Steinbrueck the hourglass profile.
It was built in eight months for about $4.5 million and opened on 21 April 1962.
Height and strength
The Space Needle stands 605 feet tall, with its observation level 520 feet above the ground. It was built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph and earthquakes of up to magnitude 9.0.
It was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi.
A landmark renewed
Seattle designated the Space Needle a city landmark in April 1999. The Century Project, begun in September 2017, was the largest renovation in its history, and the Loupe, with its revolving glass floor, opened in August 2018.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
